Fotostorm | E+ | Getty ImagesMillions of American workers are paying for early access to their paychecks. So-called "earned wage access" programs, which operate either directly to the consumer or through employers, let workers tap a portion of their wages before payday, often for a fee. Earned wage access has gotten more popularEarned wage access goes by various names: daily pay, instant pay, accrued wage access, same-day pay and on-demand pay, for example. "It's another version of payday loans," Monica Burks, policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending, a consumer advocacy group, said of earned wage access. However, a recent study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that earned wage access products "generally cost less than typical costs associated with payday loans."

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Persons: it's, Marshall Lux, Lux, hasn't, Cherie Chung, EarnIn, MoneyLion, Monica Burks, —, Thad Peterson, There's, EWA, Peterson, Harvard's, we're, Stacy Greiner, Dave, Ben LaRocco, Miranda Margowsky, Margowsky, Atif Siddiqi, Siddiqi, Safwan Shah, Shah, doesn't, Harvard's Chung Organizations: Harvard University, Finance, Harvard Kennedy School, Lux, Harvard, Hilton, Uber, Walmart, Companies, Center for, California Department of Financial Protection, Center for Responsible, U.S, Government, Office, GAO, Datos, Commerce, Economic, Financial Technology Association Locations: Kroger, McDonald's, California, Vermont